Changing roles of women captured in shades of life

Dubai: An exhibition featuring more than 30 ‘thought-provoking' pieces on men's perspective on women opened to the public at the Dubai Ladies Club Art Centre on Saturday.

Dr Salah Al Qasim, adviser to Dubai Culture, and Dubai Ladies Club Executive Director Mona Bin Kalli inaugurated the exhibition.

With the theme ‘Male Perspective: Images of Women by Men,' the exhibition features 35 paintings and photographs depicting women from all walks of life as perceived by nine Emirati and regional artists.

The exhibition, which runs until tomorrow, is the first in a series of WOMART or the Women and Art programme organised by Funoon, the art division of Dubai Ladies Club.

Speaking to Gulf News, Mona said: "It's very interesting to see how different male artists perceive women, especially when you talk about this part of the world, the Middle East. Some of them are actually feminists in that they also encourage women to be very active in what they do but some of them are not so much."

From the 50 artists who applied to be included in the exhibition, only nine made the cut. The works of Mohammad Sharaf, Ahmad Esmail, Mansour Talal Bakheet, Jamal Idris, Cyrus Mahboubian, Mohammad Hindash, Walid Al Wawi, Weidad, and Zafar Ahmad were considered the "finest and most profound" in the selection process, Mona said.

The rich contrasts in the artwork represents the changing perception of women, not just of men but also of society.

Evolving

"It's changing, it's really evolving especially when you are talking about a city like Dubai. [Most] women no longer just study and sit at home and wait for Prince Charming to come home. I think they have realised that they have potential and they have to succeed to fulfil their lives. Of course, this does not mean that I have something against housewives, if that is what they choose to be," Mona said.

This positive change, Mona said, reflects the leadership's support for women.

"Now, we have ministers that are women and the number is really increasing every year and that tells something that the Royal family here and the Rulers are really supportive of women and they really want to give them the chance," she said.

From According to Maslow — a controversial depiction of the hierarchy of the needs of a woman by Saudi artist Sharaf to The Ladies of Nepal taken by Dubai-based photographer Esmail, the exhibition aims to spark dialogue and reflection within the community.